Sobbing all over a pillow, collapsing on the floor and making inhuman sounds were all part of his reaction, but what did his demure and classy mentor Nicole Scherzinger really think when she saw the Essex singer's pantomime?

"I was like, that was a very expensive pillow," she says, sitting with her three X Factor Boys at ITV's headquarters.

Nicole Scherzinger with Rylan Clark

And she reveals she was rather proud of her own performance during that scene: ""I loved it, I was gearing him up for it, I was trying to be all dramatic and everything with the whole 'risk' thing.

"I should have won an Emmy for that 'but it's a risk I wanna take' line."

Rylan explains the hotel where the scene was shot in Dubai phoned him up afterwards. He thought they were going to charge him for the cushion but says excitedly now: "They actually sent me the cushion!"

And if viewers thought Rylan's performance last weekend was over the top, he guarantees there's a lot more to come: "This is where the hard work begins for me now. I'm in my element, performance is what I want to do, as a dance artist my worse fear is just standing with a microphone and singing.

"So this Saturday I've got so much in store. We're going to a futuristic Egypt theme and there's a throne and a lot of naked men."